Cipro, the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office, will spend about R157 million over the next three years to reengineer itself into a decentralised organisation better able to deliver a faster public service.
Spokesperson Patricia Manshon says Cipro is overhauling its enterprise architecture and IT. "We want to take our services to the people." She is loath to provide figures on the IT spend, saying it is "under review".
Cipro has been lambasted in recent years for poor service and long turn-around times on patent and company registration. The organisation also only maintained a single office - on the Department of Trade and Industry's traffic-congested Pretoria campus.
In February, Cipro CEO Keith Sendwe and CFO Renier du Toit told the Parliamentary trade and industry committee that key IT concerns included poor infrastructure, as well as deficient data security and bad information integrity. The remedy will see Cipro adopt a new IT infrastructure and a Web-based approach, with registrations and applications made online "24/7".
Much of the money will be spent on giving Cipro a regional presence. Manshon says Cipro will establish nine offices, one per province, instead of maintaining a single office.
Related stories:
Bill shakes up business environment
BSA wants piracy made a crime
Share
